Coming off a tough game against a much more experienced Utah team, Sun Devil Nation had high hopes for the team’s trip to Pasadena. Those hopes were dashed in short order as the Sun Devils were unable to gain any offensive traction, all the while the defense was struggling against a strong UCLA ground attack with very little help from #Pac12Refs. Despite forcing two more turnovers than the Bruins, ASU was unable to match the scoring barrage of an up and coming UCLA team. The game wasn’t very pretty to watch as an ASU fan, but how about the uniforms?

I try to remain as objective as possible when rating all uniform combinations. I’ve made no secret in previous seasons that whiteout uniforms are typically my least favorite each season. They tend to lack identity and seem somewhat sterile. The sustainable “Selfless” uniforms had a different look to them. The maroon center stripe and maroon pitchforks tied the uniform together, and the boxy typeface for the player numbers gave the uniform a modern look. There was no lack of identity with the State of Arizona flag on the sleeves.

Despite all it had going for it, the uniform still didn’t strike me like most of the other uniforms that ASU wears. It was sleek. It was clean. It was cool. It was innovative. All positives, but just not my favorite of the season which has been full of strong uniform combinations thus far. I know my opinion is not shared by everyone. UNISWAG and Uniform Authority both gave the uniform some accolades landing it in each off their top 10 countdowns for the week. “Selfless” caught the national eye, and that’s a very good thing.

“Selfless” Sustainable Whiteout: B+

The Week to Come

Uniform

The Sun Devils are coming back to Sun Devil Stadium after a bye week which included a great deal of healing up injuries and self-reflection. Uncharacteristic lack of composure and execution marred both of their last two games at Utah and UCLA, which both ultimately ended up in losses. ASU will try to notch a win this weekend as they welcome USC to Tempe for the annual Blackout game.

There are a couple of things about this Blackout theme game that are different than any of the others that have taken place since 2011. First, as many may already know, there are no black helmets this year, so the uniform itself is not monochromatic, making the Blackout more of a theme game for fans than it is a complete uniform. Second, this is the first time that a Blackout theme game of any sort is taking place during the afternoon. Third, it is also the 2019 Salute to Service game.

The dates of theme games like the Blackout or the Maroon Monsoon are determined prior to the start of the season. That way, Sun Devil Athletics can notify folks of what to wear and when in their season ticket packages. However, game times are not determined until 1-2 weeks prior to the game itself, so there’s no telling what time a game will actually kickoff. Blackout games definitely seem better suited for night games, and the fans are usually very intense, so it will be interesting to see how it goes this weekend and if it affects the involvement of the nearly sold-out crowd.

As I mentioned, because the team does not have black helmets this season, the uniform will not be entirely black. Instead, the Sun Devils will wear a white helmet/black jersey/black pant uniform combination and as we will cover later on, the helmet itself has a special Salute to Service feature. The heathered black jersey features a sublimated Arizona state flag in representing the sunset and the star across the chest in lieu of identifying text which is now on the back of the jersey. The gold player numbers on the uniforms are outlined in maroon on both the front and back of the jersey, as are the TV numbers on the sleeves.

The nameplate on the back of the jersey utilizes the gold Sun Devil Bold font and above the nameplate is a small, gold “ASU” outlined in maroon. On the front of the jersey, near the left shoulder, is a gold adidas logo. Near the right shoulder is a maroon and gold Pac 12 shield, and though it is not pictured, there will be a white and gray “150” patch signifying the 150th season of college football as well. Last, but not least, at the base of the collar is the black PT*42 shield in honor of ASU Football legend, Pat Tillman.

The black pants have a small gold pitchfork with maroon trim near the right hip and a gold adidas logo near the left hip. Running vertically along the side of the left thigh is “Sun Devils” in gold Sun Devil Bold font. There is paneling on the pants that features the darker tonal color, not only providing further dimension to the uniform as a whole, but also serving a purpose in providing a greater range of motion.

Helmet

This week’s Blackout helmet isn’t blackout all but rather is white. The white helmet features a black facemask, white chinstrap, and standard sized metallic black pitchfork decals with chrome gold trim and a thin chrome maroon border. Because it is Salute to Service week, a special center stripe will be used. The center stripe is quite wide and has two thin black stripes outlining a maroon, gold, black, and gray digital camo pattern.

The front bumpers on this week’s helmet will be both 2D and 3D with a black base and gold font that reads PT*42, also honoring the legendary Sun Devil, Pat Tillman. At the base of the digital camo center stripe on the back of the helmet is a metallic colorized American flag decal which is much larger than the flag decals that typically appear on the back of the helmets. The other black decals on the back of the helmet include the Pac 12 shield, the outline of the state of Arizona with a small pitchfork over Tempe, and even the text in the Warning label. The decals on the back of the helmet are completed by a black rear bumper decal with white text and two small Sparky decals on either side of the rear bumper itself.

Cleats & Socks

ASU will wear white cleats this week. The two sets of cleats pictured below feature the adidas Adi-Zero cleats on the top row and adidas Freaks on the bottom. The Adi-Zeroes are typically worn by speed position players (wide receivers and defensive backs), while the Freaks are typically worn by heavier players (linebackers and linemen).

Beginning with the top row, the Adi-Zero on the left features a white base and white sole, a white tongue with maroon accents, white laces, three maroon adidas stripes near the toe on the outside of the shoe, and a prominent maroon adidas logo on the instep near the arch. The Adi-Zero in the middle is a standard low-top Adi-Zero Primeknit with all the same features. The pair on the far right is a mid-top Adi-Zero Primeknit and has the same features as well, but the white opening rises higher up on the ankle.

The pairs of adidas Freaks on the left and in the middle also feature a white base and sole, with three maroon adidas stripes near the ankle on the outside of the shoes and three maroon adidas stripes near the arch on the instep. They both also have a white tongue and white laces. The Freak low-top is on the far left and Freak mid-top is in the middle, rising higher up the ankle. The Freak Torsion on the far right has a white base and sole. It also has three white adidas stripes on the outside of the shoe. There is a very large maroon adidas logo on the inside of the shoe. The tongue and large shoelaces are both white, and a small, maroon adidas “Freak” logo can be found on the white heel loop.

Along with the white cleats, the Sun Devils will also be wearing black socks.

Gloves

The Sun Devils will wear white gloves this week, and as with the cleats, there are different gloves for different positions. The gloves on the top are Adi-Zeros which are typically worn by speed position players like wide receivers and defensive backs. Each glove features a gold pitchfork with maroon trim overlaying a white and gray tonal state flag pattern on the palm of the glove. They also have a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand and maroon accents on the knuckles and the wrist-wrap.

The gloves in the middle are adidas Freaks, worn by larger skill position players such as linebackers and tight ends. The adidas Freak gloves have a pattern of small, repeating adidas logos that are gold in color on the white palm, along with a large maroon adidas logo that is completed when the palms are placed together. The adidas Freaks also have a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand and a black wrist-wrap.

Finally, for linemen, the gloves on the bottom are white adidas Freak-Max, which boasts extra padding on the heel of the palm meant to withstand all of the contact that linemen endure throughout the course of a game. They are plain white with black padding on the palm and along with a maroon adidas logo on the back of the hand, they also a have gold accent on the wrist-wrap and knuckles.

Reaction

We’re finally to the time of the season when having limited helmet options are affecting the theme games. While it is unfortunate that there are not black helmets for the team to wear this season, it has given the equipment staff an opportunity to get very creative in unifying the Blackout theme with Salute to Service weekend.

With no black helmet in the arsenal, the natural pick is to go white, which is exactly what Jerry Neilly and his staff have done. It makes the black pitchfork more noticeable and allows the new center stripe to take center stage. The way that these pitchfork decals pop off of the helmets has always been something that I’ve been a big fan of. Add to that a color rich digital camo center stripe, and I think that the helmet is a winner and makes lemonade out of the lemons of not having a black helmet.

The last time this base color combination was worn was in the 2013 Territorial Cup game. For those that may not remember, that game went very, very well. We shall see how this uniform combination looks this Saturday. I expect that it will look quite good.

What Color ASU Fans Should Wear: Black

#Faniforms

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been soliciting for Sun Devil Nation to post their gameday gear or “Faniforms” on Twitter. I invite anyone else reading this to do the same. Use the hashtag #Faniforms and tag the Uniformity twitter account at @ASU_Uniformity. There has been an incredible response to it so far and it has been great to see what all the fans wear to support their Sun Devils on gameday. I am going to begin posting a few in the Uniformity article each week. They will be chosen at random, so keep on sending them in every week! Here are a few from the first couple of weeks of #Faniforms: